The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-06-04
TIN GOOD OLD DAYS" HumUa.

WV 49,
Bridgeport Standard.
Men ninety years old remember
when there were no steamboats,. but
al travel on the water Was done by
the slow, uncertain means of sailing
vessels, when if one started fox New
York it was doubtful if he would
reach there in . day or q week.
Now we know how many hours
and minutes it requires to make
the trip.
Men now sixty years old remem-
Der when there we're no railroads,
but all travel on land was done by
stages, by wagons, by OK teams, on
horseback, and on foot. Now q
network of railroads covers the
whole country, and several lines
run from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean. Now it requires only six
or seven days to cross the CONT
nent. Formerly that trip required
three months.
Men fifty years old remember
when there was no photographs,
but only paintings and drawings,
made at great prices, Of objects
now done better in an instant at q
trifling cost.
Men of that age also remember
when no steamboat crossed the
ocean, and it was believed that they
never could, but now hundreds OF
steamships are blowing every ocean,
reducing the time of crossing the
Atlantic from weeks to days.
Men forty-five years old remem'
Der when there was no electro
plating, but everything in that line
was done in the old-fashioned, slow
way.
Men of that age also remember
when there were no telegraphs, but
all messages had to be sent by the
slow-going mails.
Men twenty-five years old remem'
Der when there were no telephones
but all the messages now spoken
through them had to be sent by
note or special messenger.
All these grand and useful inven'
tons have been made within the
memory of men now living. The
younger generation can never ap'
preciate them as those do who re-
member the want of them, and
therefore the great convenience
they are to the world.
We often hear of "the good old
days of yore." Why deprive oul
children of the enjoyment of those
old days? Why not pass LAW
forbidding steamboats, from plow-
ing the waters, railroads from run.
ming on land, telegraphs from send
ing messages, telephones from be-
ing used, all furnaces, steam heat
ers, etc., to be taken out of houses
and other buildings, all CRATES fol
burning coal to be taken out, all
stoves to be melted for old iron, all
water works in the cities to be left
empty, the use of all gas and other
illuminators, except dipped tallow
candles, to be discontinued, and
really to 60 back to the "good old
times" say for five years. Then,
if at midnight on a cold, stormy
night a doctor is wanted, he must
be sent for instead Of telephoning
for him. If one wishes to send a
message to q distance, instead Of
telegraphing he must write a letter
and send it by stages to a distant
place and wait patiently for days
or weeks for the answer.
When one goes home on a freez'
ing night he can sit by a wood fire
roasting on one side while freezing
the other, and reading by the dim
light of a tallow dip instead. of the
blaze of a gaslight or the more
agreeable light of kerosene. If he
undertakes q journey, instead o.
getting into cars and going where
he wishes, the best thing he car
do is to take q stage at four time!
the cost and ten times the discom
fort of the cars. Let these and
other modern improvements bt
forbidden and the good old days
be brought back, how long WOULD
it be before an extra session of thu
Legislature would be demanded tt
knock the "good old days" int
splinters, and to restore the mucF
better modern days which We nov
enjoy, and for which we ought Il
be most devoutly thankful?
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